Part 19 (1/2)
He got to his feet. ”I need to go check on her.”
”No, let me.” She rose, daring him to argue. ”Get that old wheelchair out of the barn. We don't want her walking on that ankle once she's up and around.”
He nodded, anxious for Cash to return with news. He hoped that herd in the Bighorns really was the Sundown Ranch's missing cattle. But this wouldn't be over until Claude Ryan was found. If it really was Claude who FBI agent Will Jarvis had wounded on the mountain.
”I think you should do the commercial,” his mother said, her look speaking volumes. She thought he owed Reggie. He thought so, too. But it was more complicated than a simple debt, he thought, remembering their lovemaking in the cave.
As he headed for the barn, he saw the sheriff's four-wheel-drive SUV coming up the road. He walked out to meet his brother, afraid to hear what Cash had found up on the mountainside.
REGINA WOKE to suns.h.i.+ne streaming in the window. She blinked, afraid she was only dreaming. She was lying in a nice soft bed with warm covers over her. Her hair beside her head on the pillow smelled clean and fresh as the sheets.
She heard a sound at the open doorway and looked up. A beautiful blond woman stood there, her eyes the same color as J.T.'s.
”You're awake,” the woman said, coming into the room. ”How are you feeling?”
”Better,” Regina managed.
The woman sat down on the edge of the bed and smoothed the covers as she smiled at Regina. ”I'm Shelby McCall, James Thomas's mother.”
James Thomas. She'd wondered what the J.T. stood for. ”Regina Holland.”
Shelby's smile broadened. ”Oh, I've heard all about you.”
”Really?” She wondered what J.T. had told her. Her face flushed at the knowing look in the pale blue eyes.
”You must be starved,” Shelby said.
Regina's stomach growled on cue. She laughed. ”I guess I am.”
”Good, there is nothing wrong with a healthy appet.i.te,” J.T.'s mother said, her gaze intent on Regina. ”I have Cook making you some breakfast. We can visit while you eat.”
The phone rang. Shelby McCall picked it up. She was beautiful. Regina could see where J.T. got his looks.
”It's for you,” Shelby said, her look saying, It's a man. It's a man.
Regina didn't reach for the phone. ”No one knows I'm here.”
”He says his name is Anthony Grand?” Shelby said.
Anthony. Regina had completely forgotten about him, about the jeans company, the commercial, her life in Los Angeles. How was that possible?
She felt completely off-kilter. After everything that had happened, all the things that had been a matter of life or death in Los Angeles seemed silly. She really had been in a life-and-death situation.
But she knew that wasn't what had changed her priorities. It was J.T. McCall.
She took the phone. ”Anthony?” She saw Shelby lift a brow and motion that she would leave. Regina nodded and smiled and waited until she disappeared before saying, ”How did you find me?”
”It wasn't easy. I heard the most amazing story about you being a cow camp cook and then almost getting killed by some homicidal maniac?”
”A lot has happened,” she agreed. ”I got thrown from a horse.”
”Oh, darling, what in heaven's name were you doing on such a beast?”
”It's a long story, but I'm fine. I just have to stay off my sprained ankle for a while.” She heard a squeak in the hall.
”A while? Sweetie, you haven't got a while. We need to go into production ASAP. You have the contract, right?”
She took a breath, glancing toward the doorway. J.T. was framed in it. ”I'm going to have to get back to you.”
”I don't like what I hear in your voice. Your cowboy did sign the contract, right?”
”I'll call you later.” She hung up before he could pressure her for more details. ”A friend,” she said to McCall.
He nodded, looking more than skeptical that it was a ”girl” friend. He rolled an antique wheelchair into the room. ”The doctor said you were not to walk on your ankle. Is everything all right?” McCall asked.
”Fine.” She gave him a smile but she could see he wasn't buying it.
”How are you feeling?”
”Better.”
He pushed the wheelchair over by her bed. ”You want to have breakfast in bed?”
”Would you mind if I tried the chair?” She wanted to see the house. She felt like an invalid lying in the bed and she had so much she wanted to ask McCall. ”So the J.T. stands for James Thomas?” Regina asked, smiling at him after he slipped his arms under her and lifted her effortlessly into the wheelchair.
”I'm named after my mother's grandfather.”
She looked down and saw that she was wearing a beautiful cotton nightgown.
”My sister Dusty lent you a few clothes until I can go to town for some,” McCall said, seeing her surprise. ”The two of you are about the same size fortunately.”
Regina vaguely remembered being in a bathtub filled with warm water and lots of bubbles and McCall was.h.i.+ng her hair. The memory swept over her like the warm water and McCall's soapy hands. She felt her cheeks heat. ”Thank you.”
He snorted. ”For what?”
She touched her hair and met his gaze. ”Everything.”
He looked away. ”I almost got you killed.”
”You heard something from your brother about what happened back on the mountain,” she said.
J.T. nodded and told her everything that Cash had told him. ”It looks like Claude Ryan is dead. They found another body not far from where FBI agent Will Jarvis said he wounded the man who attacked him, the man he said was Claude Ryan. It was Roy. Roy s.h.i.+elds. He was dead.”